Blocks that prevent language learning Essay Example
Blocks that prevent language learning Essay Example

Blocks that prevent language learning Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (681 words)
  • Published: August 23, 2016
  • Type: Essay
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All levels of students encounter different blockages in the course of language learning. These blocks can be categorized as both internal and external. Internal factors include reasons such as lack of motivation and fear of failure. External factors, on the other hand, include factors like unsuitable classroom environment and social influences. Motivation is an affective factor for students to engage in a study. Students have a variety of reasons to learn a new language.

These reasons can be due to academic purposes, for career purposes, self interest, travelling purposes or migration purposes. Students who are forced to learn are very different from those who are willing to learn. Students who are forced to learn are less involved with their studies. They are less enthusiastic about learning, not motivated and have higher chance of drop outs. Students who are shy and inferior

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will fear to ask questions and are more likely to avoid contacts with the new language they want to learn.

Classroom environment such as the atmosphere, lighting, temperature, setting and decorations can serve as blockages because they influence the students’ attention and mood. Students tend to learn poorly with insufficient lighting. They will easily fall asleep or feel tired during class. The room temperature of the classroom will also influence the students’ performance. Students will fall asleep if the room is poorly ventilated. Students can learn better if the classroom’s decoration and setting are clean and simple.

Excessive classroom decorations will distract the students’ attention. The teacher who is responsible for executing the lessons plays an important role. Their teaching styles, attitudes, passion towards teaching greatly influence the students’

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learning attitude and how much they actually comprehended from the lessons. If the teacher cannot carry out the lesson in a fun and enjoyable way, the students will feel bored and are likely to feel detached from their learning. Teachers who are compassionate towards teaching are more involved in knowing their students background and behavior.

They will have the professional skills of knowing how to deal with students who come from different cultures and background. Student’s mother tongue is another factor. Some students might find it hard to translate the language they are learning into their own mother tongue language. For example, students whose mother tongue is Spanish are more likely to find it easier to learn English than those whose mother tongue is Mandarin. In addition, they usually speak their own language at home which makes it harder for them to practice the language that they want to learn.

Their native language might also have different grammatical structures compared to the foreign language they are learning. Age group has a tremendous role within language learning. Young children have short attention span and it takes longer time to build up the trust and relationship with the teacher. Teenage students are more likely to focus of being “cool” and are sensitive about how their friends perceive them, rather than on academic learning. Adult students would find it challenging to learn a foreign language due to their self-consciousness and pride.

This situation is more serious with adults who are in superior position within their workplace where they thought they have already known everything. Previous learning experience can affect the students’ confidence in learning. Those

who had encountered failure are more likely to have less confidence, especially when they are learning something new. Their fear will become a great barrier for them to learn a new language. In summary, to deal with the above mentioned blockages that prevent language learning, all teachers, students and schools need to work together as a triangle.

Teachers need to ensure that they can provide a friendly, supportive, positive and creative lesson to the learners. Students need to find out their own motivation and reasons as to why they want to learn the new language. They should be open to challenges and do not fear of failure. The school on the other hand, needs to be able to cope with students coming from different social and cultural background. The materials should be made adjustable to different individuals.

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